***
Just then, a teddy bear came running toward us, its round eyes sparkling brightly.
It tripped over Cassian and tumbled to the ground.
It had tried to leap over her with its short legs, but failed.
After glancing nervously at Cassian, it waved a hand at me.
Its determination resonated strongly with me.
Feeling that, I also smiled lightly.
It seemed like we had finally succeeded.
I thought of the mirror worm in the corner of the room—a large creature carrying a full-length mirror on its body.
When I accessed the public bulletin board, I noticed a new post that hadn’t been there before.
- Cassian: Come check out this cute teddy bear. Day 761.
[Video]
Below it were numerous posts with the same title.
They were all records of trial and error, accumulated over time.
The latest post was the culmination of that process.
Even this bear had become quite adept at using the bulletin board.
Of course, since it borrowed Cassian’s name, it couldn’t change the titles, which was a limitation.
Still, it was an incredible feat.
None of the other dolls had managed to post on the bulletin board.
At most, they could convey their intentions to me.
This showed how strong its connection to Cassian was.
I wondered how that connection had formed.
But now wasn’t the time to focus on the teddy bear.
The video it had posted was far more important, as it held clues for the direction I needed to take.
The mirror worm began playing the video.
It was extremely blurry, and even paused intermittently.
But the crucial moments were still visible.
Cassian and her opponent.
Amid the blurred surroundings, the two of them stood out with sharper movements.
The teddy bear had wrung every ounce of memory it could muster to produce this video.
We hadn’t been able to witness the duel ourselves.
Future duels would likely be the same.
But this bear had watched the duel up close.
After much coaxing, it managed to extract this memory.
In the scene captured by the bear’s eyes, Cassian moved her sword smoothly.
Amid her flow, the blade grazed her opponent.
It was a movement I had seen many times during our week-long journey.
Monsters struck by it were cleanly sliced and fell without even realizing they had died.
The video, however, told a different story.
Although her opponent’s skin bore deep wounds, they moved as though unharmed.
It was because her strikes lacked magic.
Instead, the opponent charged into her and slammed her down with a powerful blow that relied solely on physical strength.
Her flow was completely disrupted by that overwhelming strike.
The opponent didn’t miss the opportunity and relentlessly pushed forward.
Soon, wounds were carved all over her body.
They were the very wounds Mira had been tirelessly treating.
Cassian staggered, blood spilling from her injuries.
The opponent rushed in and aimed a sword downward at her.
The blade cut through the air, descending toward her.
Cassian simply stood there, motionless.
Then the screen went black.
I looked at the teddy bear.
It mimed covering its eyes.
It must’ve averted its gaze at that moment.
There was no way to include what it hadn’t seen in the video.
Clicking my tongue, I turned back to the mirror worm.
Before long, the scene returned.
The teddy bear had opened its eyes again.
In the frame, Cassian’s sword pierced through her opponent’s chest.
Her opponent’s sword, on the other hand, had stopped near her shoulder.
The opponent collapsed on the spot.
Cassian, unable to bear the weight of her sword, also fell to the ground.
‘Could this even be called a duel? It wasn’t simply a clash of swords. It was more—a deadly battle for survival.’
Of course, I had devised this process knowing I could keep her alive.
Cassian in the video looked far worse than when we had first seen her.
I thought of the infirmary in the tower.
They must have something similar here.
Though their capabilities would likely be much weaker.
Beside me, Mira covered her mouth with her hands, her expression one of genuine sorrow.
“I can’t forgive this. That insignificant wretch left so many scars on such a beautiful body.”
“Indeed,” I nodded.
To us, her body was of utmost importance.
Even though it was a duel, treating her so recklessly was unacceptable.
We had to ensure this wouldn’t happen again.
“Mira, have you fully grasped the process of this duel?”
“Hmm, more or less. That bear really worked hard. Knowing its lack of strength, it deliberately used that to its advantage.”
‘Could she truly read that process so clearly?’ I let out a dry laugh.
I had only seen swords clashing and movements flowing.
I half-closed my eyes.
“I don’t understand. I couldn’t discern how this duel unfolded or why she managed to win.”
“Of course not. You’re clearly on a much lower level than them, Evron.”
Mira nodded, a mischievous smile tugging at her lips.
I quietly nodded along.
She pouted slightly, as though disappointed.
“But I could observe her body. I saw how inefficient her movements became without magic.”
It was an instinct I had developed from creating dolls.
I had dissected countless bodies and studied their structures, with human anatomy comprising the majority of my research.
I understood movement deeply—how to make it most efficient, how to make it most beautiful.
That was my pursuit.
In my eyes, Cassian’s movements in the video looked utterly lacking.
Every action was interrupted somewhere, and the flow of her sword was awkward.
As Mira said, this was the result of losing her magic.
On the other hand, her opponent’s movements were smooth, as if accustomed to a magic-less environment.
They easily parried her blade and countered fluidly.
“Watching this reinforces the need to block her talents further. We must restructure her movements and even her thought processes to make them more efficient.”
Mira nodded slowly.
Then I felt someone tugging at my leg.
Looking down, I saw Cassian staring up at me.
She seemed to have woken from the impact of being kicked by the teddy bear.
Taking her hand, I locked eyes with her.
With conviction, I spoke.
“You must trust me completely. Cassian, just trust us.”
The dim light in her eyes began to brighten.
She nodded slightly, and I nodded back.
If Cassian was truly a genius, as Mira claimed, and if she truly held such coveted talents within her, then she would surely adapt perfectly to the new body we had designed.
And so it was.
The result was now before my eyes.
I smiled with satisfaction.
Just look at those movements.
Even with just a slight adjustment to her wrist structure, her motions had become far more elegant.
With her current form, she could likely defeat her first opponent in just a few exchanges.
That’s how much she had changed.
At some point, Mira approached, watching Cassian with a pleased expression.
She leaned her head against me and murmured.
“This is our masterpiece. I’m very satisfied. I never imagined she could develop this much.”
“Indeed. With this, she’ll be able to defeat her next opponent.”
“Just her next opponent?”
She gave me a curious look.
I frowned slightly.
Cassian was far superior to her previous self.
But she was still imperfect.
If things stayed as they were, she would eventually hit her limits.
We lacked data—data on anatomy, swordsmanship, and most of all, on Cassian herself.
But for now, this was the best we could do.
Cassian subtly stopped her movements, seemingly hoping for a break as she watched us converse.
I stared at her.
She pouted slightly, then resumed moving again.
We had already fed her all the information about her opponent.
It was written on the documents they had given us.
Of course, we couldn’t be certain how reliable that information was.
But it was enough to use as a reference.
Surely, not all of it was false.
‘If she defeated her next opponent, we would gain another opportunity to gather information.’
I glanced at the two swordsmen guarding the door.
They couldn’t see us through the layered barriers.
After every duel, one request was granted.
It was something we had asked them about when Cassian brought us here.
As long as the request wasn’t unreasonable, they would grant it.
Through such demands, we had to steadily expand our possibilities.
For that, it was crucial to finish the second duel flawlessly.
***
Fixing my gaze on Cassian’s movements, I watched for any inefficiencies.
If even the slightest flaw arose, it would need to be corrected immediately.
We had only one day left to refine her further.
Thus, the day of the second duel drew closer.